You Can Rely On Me
by futureauthor13
Summary: When Trunks has a bad dream, who else but Vegeta helps him calm down. Because no matter what, the Saiyan prince will always be there for his family. Oneshot


**Just a short oneshot I had to write. Not my best, imo, but I liked writing it. Enjoy. **

It was a very peaceful evening at the Capsule Corporation. The stars above the building shone brightly, and everyone in the building was fast asleep. Well, almost everyone.

In the master bedroom, Vegeta was laying down next to his blue haired wife. He was staring up at the ceiling, his mind racing a mile a minute. He glanced over at his wife, who was sleeping peacefully without a care in the world.

The saiyan prince sighed deeply, and then wrapped his arms around his mate, careful not to wake her. As the couple laid together, Vegeta couldn't believe he almost gave this up. This was his life, and it was perfect. With the warmth of his wife's body calming him, the prince slowly closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.

But then Vegeta's eyes shot opened. Something was wrong. Just one room below his, he felt his son's energy spike. It was changing at random intervals. First it was low, then it went up but came back down, then up again, then it shot up like a rocket. Removing his arms around his wife's waist, Vegeta sat up and concentrated on Trunks' ki.

"Ve...Vegeta?" Bulma mumbled, not opening her eyes but could feel her husband beside her and wide awake, "what is it?"

Vegeta didn't answer. Trunks' ki dropped a tiny bit, but then shot up again. What was happening to his son? There was no other energy source in Trunks' room, but the way his energy kept going up, it felt like he was in a fight. The prince was about to stand up and check it out when he heard something that made both his and his wife's eyes widen in fear. He heard his son scream bloody murder, like he had just taken one hell of an attack.

Reacting quickly, Vegeta jumped up and raced down the hall, leaving his confused and worried wife behind. He kicked open the door to his son's bedroom, not caring if the hinges were now broken. He looked inside his son's room, and saw nothing. No enemies, no androids, no villains. Nothing except his son, sitting up in his bed shaking and looking like he just saw a ghost. Sections of the blue bedding were now darkened by sweat, and Vegeta could hear Trunks sobbing, quietly but still loud and clear to the saiyan's ears.

Trunks looked up, his blue eyes filled with fear and tears, and then shamefully looked away. Vegeta said nothing, but walked across the room and sat on his son's bed. "What happened?" he asked.

The young prince sniffled and wiped away a tear. "I...I had a bad dream. Really bad," Trunks said, speaking quietly, his voice shaking, "I dreamed that Kid Buu came back. He came back, and he was super strong."

Vegeta didn't say anything. It had been four months since the defeat of Kid Buu. While no one talked about it openly, it had shaken everyone up. Even after a few months, just thinking about the evil creature sent shivers down a person's spine.

"I dreamed that he came to our h-h-home," Trunks continued, the tears threatening to come again, "He killed Grandma, Grandpa, Goten, Mom and You, right in front of me! And I couldn't do anything about it! And then he attacked me, and I woke up."

"You're fine," said Vegeta, his face stoick with no emotion, "everyone is still alive, and Kid Buu is still dead."

"I know, but it...it was still..." Trunks said, tears running down his cheeks. He wiped them away, frusterated and angry at himself. "I feel like such a baby, being afraid of a stupid dream." Out of the duo, Goten was the one more likely to be afraid of a bad dream, not him! Not the Young Prince of all Saiyans, not the son of Vegeta!

"Trunks," said his father's voice, sounding strong but caring. Trunks then felt his father move closer to him. The prince then did something he hadn't done in four months. He put an arm around his son, and held him. Trunks was surprised, but welcomed the hug.

The last time his father had done this, it felt weird and awkward. His father had never hugged him before but that hadn't really bothered Trunks. Why would he decide to do it now? But now, four months later, this hug felt nice and comforting.

"Listen, you don't need to beat yourself up for being afraid of a nightmare," said Vegeta. He looked away from Trunks. "You're not the only one in this family who's had them."

Trunks' eyes widened. Was his father actually going to share some of his past with him. He had always been curious, but smart enough not to ask about them. "I won't go into much detail," said Vegeta, "but I used to have nightmares worse than the one you just experienced."

"Wow," Trunks said simply.

Vegeta didn't like thinking about his past, but seeing his son in tears, brought him back to when he was a young saiyan of Frieza's ship. Before all his emotions were beaten out of him, he would have nightmares almost every night about Frieza and his lackies. "I usually ignored them, and trained, knowing that I had to protect myself if those nightmares ever came true," Vegeta continued, "The only person I could rely on was myself."

"You didn't have anyone else?" Trunks asked.

"No," Vegeta replied simply, "Unlike you. If that pink bastard ever did come back, which would be near impossible, I would fight with everything I had to protect you and your mother. You do have someone to rely on."

Trunks snuggled up next to his father. "I know, Dad," said Trunks. He never doubted his father's protection before, and he didn't now.

"So, you have no reason to be afraid," said Vegeta, "and even if you are frightened because of a bad dream, you'll outgrow it."

"Yeah, just like you, right?" asked Trunks, smiling and feeling much better. His father nodded.

Outside in the hallway, Bulma was leaning against the wall, smiling. Vegeta was still his strong, tough self, but despite that he still cared for their son and, when it was neccessary, would show it. Still smiling, Bulma started walking back to her bedroom, more proud of her husband than ever before.

"Now," said Vegeta, removing his arm, "are you going to go back to sleep?"

"I don't think I can," said Trunks, "Can we have a quick snack?"

"Hn," said Vegeta, standing up. Trunks mimicked his father and they both went down to the kitchen. The father and son each grabbed a small snack (large meal to a human), and sat down at the table. Trunks told his father about his day, and his father listened. When the snacks were eaten and Trunks' fatigue started to settle in, the two walked back upstairs and into the young prince's bedroom.

"Dad?" said Trunks. His father stopped, and looked over his shoulder. "Thanks, for everything," said Trunks.

"Hn," said Vegeta, "go back to sleep, Trunks." To anyone else, this would sound cold and harsh. But to Trunks, who was able to read between the lines of whatever Vegeta said just like Bulma, knew what he meant. He meant "Goodnight Trunks", and the son knew that he cared.

"Goodnight," said the violet haired prince, laying down on the now dried sheets and closing his eyes. Vegeta watched his son for just a second, and then went back to his own bedroom. His wife was still in bed, her eyes closed. He got under the covers, and laid down next to his wife.

"Nice job, Vegeta," he heard her say.

"I'm surprised you didn't come down when you heard him scream," said Vegeta.

"I did," replied Bulma, "I was in the hallway, but then I heard you, and I knew you had it under control." Vegeta said nothing. "He's like you and so many ways, and I knew you were the perfect one for him to talk to. I'm so proud of you Vegeta."

"Hn," the prince replied. Bulma smiled, and then rested her head on his chest, and Vegeta wrapped his arms around her. Vegeta couldn't help but smile, just a little.

This wasn't the life he always wanted, but that didn't matter. He was a husband, a father, and a protector of a planet he used to hate and want to destroy. This was his life.

And it was perfect.


End file.
